Crime branch officials investigating the murder of green activist Amit Jethava last month have arrested a serving police constable and detained two persons late on Monday night in connection with the case. The officials have now started hunt for the two killers who had come on a bike near Gujarat High Court on July 20 and shot Jethava at point blank range.

Police officials refrained from naming any politician or influential person and said it was Bahadursinh Wadher's own ve n d e t t a a g a i n s t J e t h av a that led him to giving his supari to killers.

Addressing mediapersons, Mohan Jha, in-charge joint commissioner of police (crime), said Wadher, 37, a resident of Kodinar, Junagadh, and serving as a constable at Gir Gadhada police station, was arrested. Sameer Haji Rasool Vohra, 34, a resident of Jambu in Surendranagar, and Sanjay Chauhan, 41, a native of Kodinar, were detained for questioning regarding their roles in Jethava murder.

"We got the first clue in the case from the Bajaj Discover motorcycle found on the spot. The number plates were changed but we got the engine and chasis number. When we probed the matter, we knew it was stolen in 1997 and was traced to Vohra, a vehicle thief. We nabbed him and questioned him about the bike and was told that he had given the bike to Bahadursinh a day before the murder," said Jha.

Bahadursinh had his own issues with Jethava. According to officials, he along with a partner had purchased 12 bigha land at Alidar near Gir for mining. However, due to Jethava's RTI campaign, he could not start his project and was forced to sell it at a much lower price. Angry, he decided to get rid of Jethava. He then contacted Shailesh Pandya, an accused in previous firing cases, through Pachan Shiva, his local contact. Shailesh was introduced as Yunus to others during a meeting of the persons involved in the case."We have yet to find all the missing links in the case. It is, however, confirmed that it was a supari murder. The accused's remand application has been moved," said Jha.

RS 15 LAKH FOR SUPARI According to investigators, Rs 10 to 15 lakh was decided for killing Jethava. Of that amount, Bahadursinh has told police that Rs 6 lakh changed hands whereas remaining amount had yet to be delivered. Officials are now looking into land records to check Bahadursinh's claims of land near Gir and the cash transaction with Pandya SPECIAL PHOTO SESSION FOR ACCUSED Crime branch officials had a different approach when they produced Wadher, the accused in Jethava murder case, before media on Tuesday. Instead of the accused covering his face by a cloth and standing beside the policemen, Wadher was made to sit on the floor behind the table, with a cloth covering him completely. The police explained this saying they did not want anybody to identify Wadher from his 'body language'Amit Jethava